


Night Out

by jaimistoryteller



Series: Paths Taken [3]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies), Leverage, White Collar
Genre: M/M, Meet and Greets, Other, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-12 07:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9062500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaimistoryteller/pseuds/jaimistoryteller
Summary: Time stamp event during Alec and Q living in Paris





	1. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in the three weeks between when chapters 95 and 96 of Different Paths

Jon’s POV  
“There are a few people I think you should meet before you leave in a week,” Jamie comments as zhe sips at the coffee in zheir hand.  
  
“Oh and why’s that?” he replies, trying not to snicker.  
  
“Because it’s useful to know grifters?” the genderfluid grifter replies almost playfully. “We’re great to hire, although,” zheir expression turns mischievous, “knowing what’s hidden makes us a bit more trustworthy.”  
  
He can’t stop the laughter, because he gets exactly what the con artist is saying. “Okay, I’ll met them, when and where, and what sort of wardrobe?”  
  
Just about humming in pleasure, Jamie replies, “There’s a formal dinner this Friday. Bring your pet, he’s a perfect distraction.”  
  
Shaking his head, he tentatively agrees, “Deal. No promises on Alec.”  
  
Snapping zheir fingers, the grifter acts put out, but proceeds to tell him all about the dinner. Who’s expected to be there and what they are there for. From the sounds of it, it’s going to be con artists, hitters, hackers, assassins and thieves central. If nothing else, it should be interesting.  
  


-oOo-

  
Convincing Alec had been difficult, his soulmate is not a fan of having to dress up, and doesn’t really like him around the seedier side of society. He makes it a point not to point out that as a hacker, he already belongs in it.  
  
Since fashion sense isn’t one of his gifts, he asks Dayesi to pick something out for him that will blend in and not be over the top, the reason he’s not asking his best friend.  
  
She comes up with a dark blue suit that flatters his build, and makes him look closer to his age. Of course, Alec would rather take him out of it piece by piece than go to the event. Something he might have let his soulmate do if he wasn’t very interested in why Jamie thinks he needs to meet these people.

This event gives him a chance to test his new glasses, the ones set up for Wi-Fi and designed to scan people and search for their complete history. It’s the first time he’s used them, so it should be lots of fun. Hopefully they won’t give him a headache since they are scrolling in front of his left eye, although the glass is one way mirrored so people looking at him can’t see it. He’s been working on them since he got kidnapped by those idiots in Russia while leaving the orphanage.  
  
“You look perfect,” Jamie comments when the grifter meets them at the door. Eyes sweeping over him curiously before passing over Alec almost hungrily, “Perfect.” the grifter repeats.  
  
“Jamie,” he murmurs, closing the distance so he is speaking in the other person’s ear, “I don’t care if you look, but if you ever get something foolish in your head regarding him, I’ll borrow Aither’s skinning knife and make sure there is nothing to identify you by.”  
  
Swallowing hard, Jamie steps back, nodding slowly, “I got it. Hands off.”  
  
“As long as you understood, we’ll be fine, now who was it you wanted me to meet?” he asks almost sweetly, glancing around and blinking in shock because there is a lot of information running down his screen. Under his breath he murmurs, change to single file display. As soon as it switches it becomes a lot easier to keep up.  
  
“You’re multitasking,” Alec comments as the grifter leads them through the crowd towards the bar.  
  
“Yes,” he replies absently, side stepping at least two different pickpocket attempts, and lifting the thirds in response before they trade them back. “It’s working better than planned.”  
  
His soulmate just shakes his sardonyx blonde head, a soft chuckle escaping those firm lips.  
  
No getting distracted, he orders himself firmly. He’s trying not to focus on exactly how much he wants to take Alec out of the suit and enjoy his own game of uncover the present.  
  
So the first function of the glasses works, as they are identifying people left and right, all he has to do is glance at their face for it to pick them up and go through them. Now to test the second function: recognizing fake IDs and then identifying who the person really is.  
  
He get’s his first chance with person number four trying to pick his pocket, a taller than him man with dark hair and laughing eyes. According to the ID he just lifted, the man’s name is Nick Wilson, only it’s registering as fake, and within a few moments he has the proper ID, along with several other aliases.  
  
“Nice try Neal,” he comments quietly as he tosses it lightly at the other man.  
  
Jamie starts chuckling, a satisfied smirk curving the genderfluid grifter’s lips. “Neal, this is Jon, and his soulmate Aleksei.”  
  
“You I recognize,” Neal replies, eyes narrowing on Alec, “I thought you got out of the underworld?”  
  
“I got out of weapon’s dealing,” Sansha answers smoothly, “still run a mercenary company. Events like this could be useful for networking.”  
  
Snorting, the grifter’s eyes fall on him, “You’re the reason he’s here. Networking is something hackers and grifters do, not those in charge of mercenary companies that used to be crime syndicates.”

“Which am I?” he queries with an almost playful smile, this pup is interesting. Pup? He repeats in his head, definitely a pup, with a very interesting combination of naive and world-weary in those bright eyes.  
  
Neal studies him, lips curved in a slight smirk as if processing the evidence and trying to come up with the correct answer. “You’re both.”  
  
He laughs, accepting the drink Alec hands him with a soft thank you.  
  
“I’m I wrong?” the grifter challenges, glancing between him and his soulmate.  
  
“Be right back,” Jamie announces, “Don’t go anywhere. I see the other person I want you to meet.”  
  
He just nods, taking a sip of his drink, “You tell me.”  
  
“How did you know my name?” Neal asks after studying him for a few more moments.  
  
He leans into Alec and just waits for the next question, his new glasses as his experiment, he’s not saying anything about them until he know they will work perfectly or not.  
  
“Those aren’t regular glasses,” the grifter comments after a few more moments of silence, “Not with the little buttons along where the screws go. I would have missed it if I wasn’t looking for it, they blend in rather well. Where’d you get them?”  
  
“I get bored,” he replies.  
  
Alec just huffs with quiet laughter as his soulmate mutters, “That’s one way to put it.”  
  
“Jon, Aleksei, this is Melinda,” Jamie comments as he returns, looking like the cat who got the canary.  
  
“No it’s not,” he answers as he accepts the hand to shake.  
  
“Whatever do you mean?” the dark haired woman replies with a smile.  
  
“I mean your name isn’t Melinda, Christy, Laura, Sophie, Donna, Grace, Indira or Annie.” He answers, but continues to study her because he’s not finding her actual name hidden behind the legends. She’s done what he’s done and erased herself, and did a very thorough job of it.  
  
“Sophie is my preferred name currently,” she informs him curiously. “If I wasn’t busy, I’d ask you to lunch to find out what you know.”  
  
“Sorry, we’re a bit busy too, tonight was just Jamie wishing to do some introductions for us.” He responds with a snicker.  
  
“Well,” she drawls, “Maybe we’ll run into each other again.” she nods at the other two grifters before leaving.  
  
“I like her,” he comments absently, “She almost reminds me of Aither, only not as bloodthirsty.”  
  
Again Alec laughs, this time smiling ruefully instead of commenting.

“Aither?” Neal repeats, almost like the grifter is trying to work through the identity. The moment the dark-haired man figures out who Jamie is talking about, eyes widen and he queries, “That hacker you sometimes work for?”  
  
“That’d be the one,” Jamie agrees with a sharp nod, “She’s fun to work with. Knows all sorts of interesting people.”  
  
“Are you sure you’re not a grifter and hacker?” Neal asks, turning back towards him, studying him again, with a new understanding.  
  
“Quite,” he answers, finishing his drink and glancing back at Jamie, “Any other grifters you want to introduce us too?”  
  
Jamie’s lips curve in a genuine smile, “There are a few other people, but I don’t see them currently. There will be other occasions, I’m sure.”  
  
“In that case, Jon, get the info you need, I want to take you out of that suit.” Alec suggests, voice going low and rough.  
  
“Can I watch?” Jamie queries with a hopeful expression.  
  
“No,” he replies firmly.  
  
Neal passes him a card with a phone number on it before vanishing back into the crowd.  
  
“Thanks for coming!” Jamie tells them brightly, “Laters.”


	2. Useful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves at any of my lurking readers* happy new year

Alec’s POV  
He’s always hated these sorts of events. They annoy him on so many levels. They’ve always annoyed him. There is one good thing about this: Jon in a suit.

He loves the way his soulmate looks in suits, even if he hates wearing them. However, like him, Vansha normally avoids suits except for when he’s expected to wear one. He suggested his tailor, which used to be James’ tailor at one point but the man had gone underground and he never bothered to find out why. He’s moderately certain that his Rowan knows and just isn’t saying.

Most of these people take one glance at him and stay away. Not one of the thieves in the mix attempts to pick his pocket.

Jon, on the other hand, must appear to be an excellent mark, right up until his Rowan avoids the lift and occasionally does a lift of his own. He’s not sure if that skill set comes from his soulmate’s dad or if it comes from the street people that Vansha likes. Actually, it might be from both.

The two people Aither’s grifter introduces to Jon are useful contacts, but he immediately knows it’s more than that. According to the green in Vansha’s eyes, his soulmate is aware too. The question is: what are they more useful for? It’s not until they are back in their car that his soulmate tells him.

“It was networking,” Jon comments, “the dangerous sort since both are well aware I am more than I seem, and I am well aware that one has created so many layers and lives she doesn’t know who she is anymore while the other is so sassy it will one day get him in trouble. They’re the best at what they do, and what they do is get information no one else can get, they’re both long con grifters, and both are more than aware what being undercover is like.”

They have just reached home when he finally comments. “James.” He replies, a single word that sums up what would be needed for the sort of information that his soulmate is looking into.

“Yes. Neal has ties to MI5, more than that, they have him registered as one of theirs, doing a variety of things, which gives him a pass in Britain. He makes sure to provide information on people who deal in weapons, in exchange they ignore what he is.” Jon explains. “She has ties to MI6, knew exactly who you are without asking or saying, it was in her eyes. However she doesn’t think you’re guilty of any crimes that deserves to be turned over for.” Shrugging, the hacker comments, “I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. That was a show of support from Jamie, but it was more than that. It was providing new sources of information.”

His eyes narrow at the younger man as he considers that, “This quickly went from a let’s get Jon out of that suit, to what does Vansha know and how useful will it be.”

Laughing softly, his soulmate pulls into the parking space. “It’s still let’s get Jon out of the suit, because it will take more than one meeting to get enough information out of them to be useful. It’s another link in that twisted and puzzling code that’s pissing Aither and I off. I am less violent than Aither, which is why I am the one who got the introductions. At the same time, I have you for a soulmate, which was made clear on purpose to keep them from trying to run a game on me.” Shutting the car off and glancing at him warmly, “Now why don’t we go get out of these suits, take a hot shower and spend the evening in bed?”

“I like that plan,” he just about purrs agreement. “It’s a good plan.”

He’s a bit distracted by exactly what it means however, because there is definitely meaning going on that he needs to consider. But not right now. Right now he needs to focus on undressing his soulmate as soon as they have the security for the house turned on.

As soon as they have everything turned on, they head to their bedroom, where the next layer of defense is turned on right before he’s spinning Jon against the door, happy he double checked that only the outside of it will be dangerous, as he pins the smaller man and kisses him senseless.

Vansha seems to be happy with that plan the way his soulmate’s long and dexterous fingers sink into the hair at the nape of his neck, and the other hand curves around his hips pulling him closer.

There’s only one problem, he realizes as he continues to kiss Jon, he’s not interested in sex.

When they finally break apart to breath, his eyes rake down the younger man’s body hotly, enjoying the way his lover seems to be trembling. Only Jon’s not actually aroused, and he’s thankful, not for the first time, that his Rowan isn’t driven by sex.

“Hot shower, take our time washing each other, then spend some time just touching each other in bed, maybe use the oils for any spots we feel needs massaged?” He suggests, nipping at the hacker’s lower lip.

Humming in pleasure, Jon suggests, “Take our time washing each other, use the fluffy towels to dry off, then get the oils out and just relax in bed for a bit.”

“Perfect,” he agrees, going back to kissing his soulmate until they’re both breathless.


End file.
